"Missing" Cornelius man was taking break from his wife

CORNELIUS - A man reported missing by his wife last week was located Saturday. But he says he wasn't missing -- just following his wife's wishes to go away.

William Peterson told police he and his wife had an argument and she told him to get out. So, Peterson spent the week fishing and camping in Bend.

His wife, Pam Peterson, said that the argument with her husband happened months ago, and that she forgot about telling her husband he could always leave. Apparently, her husband had not forgotten, she said.

Now Cornelius Police are missing the money spent on trying to find Peterson, at his wife's request. That makes them the unhappy party of the third part.

"There was a lot of money spent looking for someone who wasn't truly missing," said Cornelius Police Cmdr. Ed Jensen.

"I'm pretty sure there is no recourse at this time (but) it definitely tied up a lot of resources that, in this day and age of tight budgets, could make a lot of difference."

Peterson, 53, was reported to have left his home on June 6. Pam Peterson, told police her husband left on an overnight fishing trip without saying where he was going. He had done that before, but when he failed to appear at work she reported him missing.

Jensen said the search for Peterson involved the U.S. Forest Service, as well as law enforcement officers from Linn, Lane and Marion counties. He estimated that thousands of dollars were spent on the search.

"On one day we had eight people who devoted all their time to looking for this individual," Jensen said. "I don't know if that was on overtime or not."

That's a lot of effort, Jensen said, for someone spending a the week camping and fishing.

"(Pam Peterson) told us she got a call from her husband Saturday night," Jensen said. "We were able to call his cell number before he shut the phone off and found out there was more to the story than we were told."

Jensen said William Peterson told Cornelius Police about the spat with his wife, who gave him an ultimatum that included moving out of the house, which he chose to do.

"He called (his wife on Saturday) to see if he was welcome home," Jensen said.

Contacted at her home Monday morning, Pam Peterson said the argument was months ago, although she did tell him he could leave home if he didn't like things there.

"I'd forgotten about it," she said. "But apparently he didn't."

Pam Peterson said she wanted to apologize for the situation, but said she wouldn't have anything more to say about it.

She said her husband was at home Monday morning, in Cornelius.

Jensen said police will always investigate reports of people who are missing.